Leaderboard

As Miss M hasn't yet started her thread, I'll kick it off. Here's how it was when it came home. Wheels too big - wrong offset - meant the arches have been rolled, stretched and deformed. So we fitted some smaller 17x7 et47 Style 73s: Comparatively, they look a little lost! Much nicer to drive though. There's a set of ACS 17x7 et38 that we might use. We'll have a look at reshaping the arches in due course. Usual 'bought a used car' servicing completed. Thermostat replaced - temp gauge wasn't getting out of cold while travelling at normal speeds. Sorted. It's been fitted with red (colour) superlow springs. We've swapped the rears for some from an Eibach Pro-Kit which has lifted the rear ride height a little, and feels nicer on the road. Once the weather stops being so miserable we'll sort the front end, too. The rear shocks probably need replacing. They'll pass a WoF, but that just means they're not leaking. Front struts look to be fairly recent Monroes, so they'll stay. Other stuff... Front windscreen has a coupe of good-sized cracks so it'll be replaced. Paintwork is a bit shabby, but there's not much that can economically be done about that, so we'll tidy it but nothing more. For instance, we'll clean the rest of the clear coat (lacquer) from the sun roof panel, polish the paint and apply a clear wrap. There's a little dent in one door. Looks like it should push out. Interior is pretty tidy. One door card is a bit shabby, but again it's not critical and will wait. Seats are all in good condition. The a/c controls are now illuminated since I replaced the bulb. The headlight switch is imprecise and not illuminated - that'll be sorted, too. Don't think fog lights were fitted originally and there's no switch to use them, but the blanks are missing from the front. Plan to try fitting fog lights and fit the switch when sorting the headlight knob. We get a fair bit of fog here so they may actually be useful. In daily use, it's pretty economical and uses under 7.5 litres of fuel per 100km. No plans for endless modification. Might fit rear discs (the 318i came with drums), and explore making it stop and handle as well as practical, much as we were going to with the E30 plans.

I strongly disagree. About the every level thing. Sure it's got its downsides, but my 316i is ridiculously economical, plenty spacious, still has proper BMW comfort on the open road and is tiny, having all the benefits associated... easy to park, very small turning circle etc. Gutless and somewhat of an ugly duckling yeah, but the hatch is damn useful. Can't get a dishwasher in a Sedan or Coupe.

finished the suspension/brake upgrade on the compact last night, took it for a test drive this morning put 60kms on it, and then back in the shed to install an M50 intake manifold onto it

correct was the early m30 block early 635csi and e23 735i . larger bore and shorter stroke similar to the m88 block stroke them with the later 86mm m30 crank and then rebore the cylinders to 95mm makes a 3.65L custom high compression pistons , hot cams , later m30 34 type head with larger intake valves fitted and you will have a pretty torquy engine. mate of mine did one a bit like this with a turbo in a e28 track car

Got a chance to drive the m3 after 2 months since its last one...which was only to the wof station and back. Was a good run out to middlemarch and back, much better and faster than taking the mondeo work wagon!

New side grilles arrived and went in last week. Fresh stickers make a difference, albeit minor. Same with the front grilles, but have decided to keep them as spare given OCD cleaned up current ones really well. Booking in for Inspection II and brake bits with JC BMW next month. 8,000kms since last one haha! Car was parked up at Speedshow weekend just been, great group to be parked with and lots of good comments given how OEM based the modding was in comparison to the 500kw+ monsters next to her...Really wanting to move up into a bit more power so headed down to EuroSurgeon for a remap.. Max gains on the map as dynod was around 378hp at crank, however bit drastic so expecting it to go up between 350-360hp. Will get on Dyno and see how she runs with the new map - eerring on the side of evidence needed. And some piccies I took of her. Looking rather pretty Thanks to OCD for the clean up for speedshow

All fixed again

BMW 1997 E36 M3 PARTS LIST most of these parts if not stated as new have approx 120k All prices are listed but are ONO Front & Rear suspension approx 120ks shocks, springs, strut mounts front and rear $300 Front rotors skimmed "only good for spares" $100 Rear rotors $50 Gear box mounts $30 Engine mount 1 $40 Front control/wishbone arm bushes $40 Rear Trailing arm bush 2 ( new) $50 Front strut mount covers $50 Revshift Aluminum Flex Disc Guibo $50 Front brake cooling kit, includes spot light intakes ,ducting (New) S/S backing plates cut for M3 $350 USA M3 Pair of Aluminium Top hats from RacingBrakes.com New Pair of front caliper mounting brackets from RacingBrakes.com New $100 E36 Parts Front wish bone ball (Pair)Joint Meyle HD Part # 31-12-6758510 (New) $70 Turner Motorsports Underdrive Pulley Kit (missing power steering pulley) $150

New addition to the HellBM family, BMW 1502 with some extras: 2litre M10 transplant,Alpina headers, cam and dual carbs etc

As we know there's a BMW to fit in every market sector these days, well nearly. I can't help but find some of these models do come across like coffee break products, designed and put into production quickly with a BMW roundel slapped on, but of course they sell by the dozen There's a few that make me cringe everytime I see them on the road. Of course this is subjective, but these BMWs don't really stack up for me, if anything they would suit being in a Mazda, Kia, Toyota, Hyundai range! For what they cost I can't help but to find they would be embarrassing models to drive, especially when you could pocket 1/2 the cost and buy something similar in practicality from a more modest manufacture and avoid trying to show off with the badge. 2 Series Active 5 Series GT X1 X3

A corolla is terribly noisy and uncomfortable on a roadtrip with hard, horrible seats . The compact is comfortable, quiet and rides well as you would expect a BMW to, with comfortable seats. But apart from that yeah it's no better than a corolla. A corolla that won't kill your back and ears on a roadtrip.

yes but a corolla can do all of that and better at it. the compact doesn't bring anything useful to the table until its engine dies and you put a 6 cylinder in and rip out the interior. unfortunately, after that it still looks like a compact

Got another one! E36 316i manual for under $800. I now own THREE 316is. Oops. To be fair they are all different... E30, E36ti and now E36 sedan.

If you're charging a 500% markup then you should be offering a warranty Andy. That type of margin easily covers time to remove, clean and test as well as any potential return costs. An $11 part simply isn't worth $60+ unless it comes with a bulletproof warranty.

i think Milland will sell you the wire and cups/boots to make up your own. an auto sparky might be able to as well. think new genuine was 600 a side?? and will be newly stock i would have thought

The Royal Purple that Jared said is great stuff - I think it says it can be used anywhere ATF was specified in a manual box. I thought BMW specified different lubes for the same box sometimes, and had a different label on. I put the Royal Purple in the E39 ( I thought it had a Getrag 250?), and it shifts so much better - it went in at about 120K I think, now got 155K on in, and it still fells much nicere than the old stuff that was in it.

Yeah. My father thought he'd be helpful. bless him..lol

Or call Kayne Barrie. Make sure you throw him some business once you get the best advice in the game for free.

No BMW work today (Miss M had a driving lesson, though). Trying to trace a misfire on the 500SE. Checking resistance on plug leads (a new set wouldn't hurt, but on a Sunday afternoon?) showed a couple to be a bit out. However, removing the plug lead from number 6 proved problematic. Not quite as bad as Dave's issues (above) but it turned out the plug and the lead had corroded together. Not sure how that happened, but it can't be helping.

Bugger sorry to hear it's given pleasure and pain

The problem you will most likely run into is the time taken to sell it. While there may be A buyer for it with the spare cash and the love to spend on it, they likely won't be looking when you want to sell and unless you drop the price and sell to someone who wants it but can't afford what it's worth, it will probably take many months to sell. It is worth that much for sure, but the demand probably isn't high enough to sell it in a reasonable timeframe.

Hey Bud, My engine came out of an e32 originally, i had no issues just putting the engine in same place except for the right hand side engine mount which needed to be re-fabbed. The big difference i found between the 2 and can take pictures if i can find the old e28 one if it hasn't been used for scrap it. The front left hand side by where power steering pump is attached has a mounting bracket (that to me looked like engine mount - its not off course ) that sits down the side of the pan which takes up space and doesn't look that nice to be honest. Message me if you want a pic and ill see what i can do.

Looking Faaaabulous as always Amber

Wow! That's all I've got to say about your car! Just "Wow!"

Would rather it goes all as one. I'm missing the numberplate moulding anyway.

I do agree with all of the above, dislike the X1, the 2 Series Active and the first Gen GT's. However, that is in NZ. Overseas in a completely different environment they look much more acceptable, eg the I3 in San Fransico, or London, just looks as though it belongs. The early GT's which look really awkward here in NZ kind of made sense in Europe and the US as do the X6's Some of the BMW designs are only now starting to grow on me, - the E65 and the E60 for example. Also the E90 ain't pretty but with the right wheels or Motorsport package does't look as bad. But looking back on the topic, -" least desirable BMW's," at this stage the E36 series is the winner for me, the Tourings are ok and the M3's are very nice, but we are talking about least desirable and I have difficulty in accepting that in the future the E36 will ever be as popular as the E30 or even the E46.

Yulian - I think you simply went to somewhere that doesn't offer the service you require. It is as simple as that. Had you gone to 'ABC123 Acme Car Polishers' looking for a 'Ultimate Ceramic Coating' they might offer you a 'Super-Duper Waxy-Shiny Hard-Coat' polish, and tell you ceramic isn't needed: they'd hope to sell the service they have available. That's business. That's all there is to it. OCD are not ripping you or anyone else off - they are offering a specific service at an appropriate price. It's just not the service you wanted. And now you're bad-mouthing a company whose customers are happy with their service, potentially meaning your friends won't benefit from something that could be suitable for them. Please don't do that.

Julian, if you have the gear, and are telling them how to do it, then why not do it yourself and save your self some coin? Clearly, paying them because you don't have the time is not a factor, as you have time to post up your cry here. Thread locked. Happy to unlock and or tidy up if needed.

don't forget the plastic is 20 years old and spun millions if not billions of times. its brittle plastic by now, just like the rest of a BMW cooling system (and intake manifolds too) i always replace with aftermarket alloy parts, which are available for the M70, not sure about M73 e.g. if they have the same water pump??

Done

Hello Julian. Firstly thank you for coming in to see myself and Christian today. It was a pleasure to meet you and I'm sorry we were unable to accomodate your needs at this point in time. Whilst we wouldn't normally engage in this, I would like to point out a few facts so that the other Bimmersport members can stay educated and hear a bit from us too. When you spoke to Christian you were wanting us to use your products and tell us the technique you would like us to use. While we respect all of our customers requests - what you were asking us to do takes all of the quality out of our control; which would negatively effect our business should you be unhappy with quality due to us not following our process. To break down the facts about a brand new car detail is as follows. Step 1) Full wash down of the exterior including wheels, wheel barrels, under guards plus full dry of the vehicle and clean and dry of the door jambs. One hour. Step 2) Decontamination. Yes, all new cars need decontamination. I have attached photos of a brand new M235i we detailed. You can see all of the Iron contamination reacting from transport. Disgusting I know that new cars come out of the factory like this, but at least we were there to fix it. Following up with a very light clay bar for thoroughness. One hour. Step 3) Preparation of surface. We mask all exterior plastics and trims and prepare the vehicle. Quarter hour. Step 4) Machine polish using dual action machines. We use four different size machines, Rupes 21ES, Rupes 15ES, Rupes Mini, Rupes Nano to achieve a perfect finish. All new cars we do, including Rolls Royces and other high end have buffer trails, sanding marks, swirls from the dealership and more. Given in your case on white they are hard to see but I 100% guarantee they are there. Machine polish whole car, single stage. Four hours. Step 5) Secondary wash down to remove any light dusting, residues from polishing process. Again, not always necessary but we pride ourselves on being thorough. Half hour. So far. 6 hours 45 minutes. Exterior Only. Of course this excludes any wax, sealants, tyre protectant or interior detailing which we always do as standard to ensure vehicles leave our studio in pristine condition. This process would be at a cost of $549 for a mid sized SUV including the interior. If you consider here labour, product cost, overheads such as power, water, full insurance for your vehicle and our premises and the such - and given if we add on the finals above we are looking at more like 8 hours - I think this is great value. How much does your mechanic charge? $100 per hour excluding materials? At a rate of more like $68 per before expenses for which which I know and consider as just as skilled as a mechanic then it's great value! If you would like some guidance about our quality I would speak to Jooles C, Martin U, Andy P, Kevin L, Amber E, Tristan J, Richard P, Peter F, Dan S, Ryan H, John M, Raewyn A, Ray R, Seth H, Sam F, Sam R, Nick A and no doubt a raft of other Bimmersport members I can't think of at this time. Again, sorry we could not help to apply your products to your car. As mentioned I wouldn't normally reply to threads like this but of course I take exception when the business Christian and I have built comes 'under fire'. We have never had a problem customer before and we are happy to help with any customer request as long as we don't sacrifice quality. In regards to becoming soon 'bankrupt' we are constantly booked up every single week for over the last 12 months including winter, at the prices we need to charge in order to survive. If we were to lower prices to what you consider fair for the work, I would say we would definitely go bankrupt like you say!

Good trade, arrived next day. A+ 5 stars etc.

Being able to see clearly less than 4 hours after LASIK. And being able to drive again either tomorrow or Monday